The poverty line is the lowest income that people need for an acceptable standard of living. People with income below the poverty line are considered poor. Economists study the causes of poverty in order to find solutions to the problem.

    About ten percent of the people in the United States are below the poverty line. However, if these people had stable jobs, they could have an acceptable standard of living. Economists suggest several reasons why poor people do not have jobs.

For one thing, more than half of the people in the United States are not qualified to work. Over 40 percent of the poor people are children. By law, children less than 16 years old cannot work in many industries. And a large number of poor people are old. Many companies do not hire people over 65 years old.

Some poor adults do not look for jobs for a variety of personal reasons: they are sick, they have family problems, or they do not believe that they can find a job. Other poor people look for a job but cannot find one. Many poor adults never went to high school. Therefore, when they look for jobs, they have few skills that they can offer.

    At the present time, the government thinks it can reduce poverty in the country in the following ways.

    First, if the national economy grows, companies hire more workers. Some of the poor may find a job, and they will no longer be below the poverty line.

    Second, if the government spends money on social programs, education and training for the poor people, the poor will have the skill to offer. Then it is more likely that they can find jobs.

Finally, if the government distributes society's income differently, it raises some poor people above the poverty line. The government collects taxes from the non"poor and gives money to the poor. These payments to the poor are called welfare.

Some economists are looking for better solutions to the poverty problem. However, at the present time, many people still depend on welfare to live a poor life.